Paul Martin signs four-year deal with Sharks

The San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman Paul Martin to a four-year deal, the team announced Wednesday.

The deal is worth an average of $4.85 million per season, a source told ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun.

"Paul is versatile, puck-moving veteran who enhances our younger group of talented defensemen," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. "He comes from a winning environment, is capable of playing heavy minutes and is accustomed to playing with high-end players. He was a player that we had targeted and this is a place that Paul wanted to come play."

Entering free agency for the second time, the 11-year veteran played in 74 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014-15, his most since 2011-12.

The Sharks had tried to trade for Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa before the draft last week, but the talks fell through.

Martin, 34, finished the five-year, $25 million contract he signed with the Penguins in 2010 after playing five seasons with the Devils. He and the team struggled in an opening-round playoff loss to the Rangers, with a minus-3 rating and two assists in a five-game defeat.

He ranks ninth among American-born defensemen in the NHL with 272 points since the 2003-04 season.

Martin, a native of Minneapolis, is a three-time U.S. Olympic hockey team member, although he did not play in 2006 and missed the 2010 Olympics with a broken arm.